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Researchers from Texas A&M have been utilizing radar to map a leaf-cutting Atta ant colony. They then digitize the images and turned into an interactive visualization system without displacing them. The results are a vertical slice of dirt with tunnels showing as low density, the food fungus, higher, and the earth surrounding the tunnels even higher. By shifting the GPR device, they get 3D.

“Leafcutting ant nests can hold a 3-story house—the rural legend is that tractors can disappear into them,” says team leader Dr. Carol LaFayette.